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Sunrun and Tesla Partner to Support Texas Power Grid Using Residential Solar-Plus-Battery Systems
Sunrun partners with retail electricity provider Tesla Electric to create a customer-driven power plant in Texas using customers’ solar-plus-battery systems
About this update from Sunrun Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Sunrun partners with retail electricity provider Tesla Electric to create a customer-driven power plant in Texas using customers’ solar-plus-battery systems\nSAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunrun (Nasdaq: RUN), the nation’s leading provider of clean energy as a subscription service, announced today that it has expanded its support for the energy grid in Texas with a partnership with Tesla Electric, a retail electricity provider operated by Tesla Energy Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA). The partnership has already enrolled more than 150 Sunrun customers in an aggregated power program and will scale up enrollments while dispatching stored solar energy from at-home batteries to rapidly increase available electricity reserves on the grid during periods of high consumption. The ongoing partnership marks Sunrun’s first operational aggregated power plant program in the Lone Star State and comes just weeks after Hurricane Beryl caused widespread power outages impacting nearly 3 million homes and businesses. It also comes three years after the state’s devastating and deadly power grid meltdown during the winter storm in February 2021. Since both catastrophic events, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s grid operator, has begun adopting ways to diversify and strengthen the power grid, including through the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources Task Force. “Texas grid has already experienced a traumatic spring and summer due to weather vulnerabilities and we know the state also needs more power to meet soaring demand on a daily basis. We’re eager to bring Sunrun’s on-demand battery response expertise to help make the grid more resilient against outages,” said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. “Texas families are increasingly opting to add batteries to their solar installations. On-site energy storage not only provides homeowners peace of mind with outage protection but also enables them to participate in programs like these by contributing to solutions that better the lives of those in their communities.” Severe weather events and soaring electricity demands in Texas highlight the importance of solar-plus-battery systems for residents seeking greater control, energy security, and independence. Sunrun will enhance these benefits through its partnership with Tesla Electric by enabli...